


Bad Joke

by theScrap_Witch



Series: Quests and Questions [1]
Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:53:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24744886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theScrap_Witch/pseuds/theScrap_Witch
Summary: It was like the start of a bad joke. Three men in armour walked into the pirate bar. One was wearing a wolf pelt, one had pink hair, and one was missing an eye.“Drink?” asked the bartender.“No,” said one-eye. The leader, Linebeck guessed, from the way the other two followed him. “We’re looking for someone named Link.”The question sunk into Linebeck’s stomach.
Series: Quests and Questions [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1864564
Comments: 36
Kudos: 326





	Bad Joke

With Bellum and the Ghost Ship defeated, Linebeck and the others had spent a few days celebrating. Tetra’s crew didn’t believe the story about the Ocean King, but none of them dared to contradict their captain. A few late nights spent drinking and laughing now that the adventure was over and everyone was okay. A few days spent ignoring that victory had come with a cost, that one dear friend had been forced to stay behind. 

Then it was time to try and return to normal.

Tetra and her crew had gone on ahead, but Linebeck had wanted to dock for a day or two at a nearby island. Double check that his wish-granted ship was all in order, reassure himself that it was all real. Link had volunteered to stay with him.

“Afraid I’ll disappear?” Linebeck had teased.

A bad joke. They were still feeling the loss of one friend who had disappeared forever. That night, the kid buried his grief under blankets and pillows, sobbing himself to sleep. Linebeck went for cheap alcohol. 

He stayed at the bar until it was late, so late it was nearly morning. The whole place was quiet, heavy with shadows. Just him, the bartender and a dockworker passed out on the bar top. Why couldn’t they have something stronger? Cheap bartender had it watered down so much that the bad taste was making his eyes water. 

Yeah, it was definitely the drink. The lack of treasure. Not everything that had happened finally catching up and landing on his heart with a crunch. 

He shook his head. _You make one self-sacrifice attempt and suddenly you can’t turn your emotions off._

Linebeck finished his last drink, and that was when the strangers arrived.

It was like the start of a bad joke. Three men in armour walked into the pirate bar. One was wearing a wolf pelt, one had pink hair, and one was missing an eye. 

No eye-patch. Linebeck scoffed. What kind of self-respecting, one-eyed pirate didn’t wear an eye-patch? _Disgraceful_. The armour was different to anything he’d ever seen, though. Must have sailed in from far away. They each had a sword in easy view, and Linebeck would wager they had other weapons hidden away too. 

_Good thing we leave tomorrow,_ he thought. _I don’t want to get caught up in whatever problems they have going on._

“Drink?” asked the bartender. 

“No,” said one-eye. The leader, Linebeck guessed, from the way the other two followed him. “We’re looking for someone named Link.”

The question sunk into Linebeck’s stomach. Years of lying kept him outwardly calm, to look uninterested in anything other than his empty cup. 

“A friend of yours?” the bartender asked. 

“Something like that,” said wolf-pelt. 

_Liar_ , thought Linebeck. He tried to think of who they could work for. Who the kid could have pissed off - who he could have pissed off. Maybe Tetra started a fight with a rival pirate crew and they’d come looking for revenge? 

“Have you heard the name or not?” snapped pink-hair, impatience growing in his voice. 

The bartender shrugged. “Doesn’t sound familiar to me.”

“I have,” said the dockworker, barely able to lift up his head. “but I don’t talk for nothin’.”

The three strangers sat down, all eyes on the dockworker. Pink-hair grumbled and handed the him a blue rupee, which was immediately tossed at the bartender. Only after a new drink was placed on the bar top did the dockworker start babbling. 

“Heard about him from a Goron merchant on Bomb Island. Had some weird sword. Really shiny. Went around on a red boat. There was somethin’ he was fighting.” He took a long gulp of his drink before continuing. “Some sort of bad man. Evil eyes. A bird. Girls were missing. Had a whole army of monsters terrorizing the Great Sea.”

“Interesting,” said one-eye. He turned to Linebeck. “What about you?” He knew Linebeck had been listening. He was clever, very clever. Very dangerous. 

“Me?” Linebeck shrugged. “I’ve never heard a name like that in my life.”

Wolf-pelt stared strangely at him. Linebeck could swear that he was sniffing the air, scrunching his nose, his eyes puzzled. 

The dockworker gulped down the last of his drink. “I heard that he can control the wind.”

Linebeck scoffed. “Yeah, right. I might not know who this ‘Link’ is, but I know a tall tale when I hear it. Your drunk enough to make stories out of anything. Next you’re going to tell these folk he helped free the Wind Fish.” 

The pink-haired one recoiled, like a shock arrow has just been fired in his back. The other two strangers turned to their friend, concerned. 

_That’s my cue to go_ , thought Linebeck. He threw a rupee at the bartender and rushed outside. His legs wanted to run. He forced himself to walk, to take a long, twisted route back to the docks. It was only once his ship was in sight that he let his panic loose and sprinted inside. 

“Kid!” he yelled out. “Change of plans. We gotta go!” No answer. Link was still in the cabin, probably still sound asleep. 

_Figures_ , thought Linebeck. _I’m here trying to save his life for the second time and he’s not lifting a finger to help._

He was about to haul the anchor up when an arrow flew past his shoulder. He spun around just in time to see the three strangers leap onto the ship’s deck. 

“You’re in a hurry to leave,” said one-eye. 

“You sure about this, Twilight?” Pink-hair asked, bow in hand. His eyes scanned the ship and Linebeck, judging everything. 

Wolf-pelt rubbed his nose. “Trust me, I’m sure. He knows something.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Linebeck, taking a few steps back from them all. 

“Where’s Link?” says Wolf-pelt. There was a sharp intensity to his eyes, like a shark sensing blood in the water. “You know who he is. You’ve been near him recently.”

“Be nice to know how you know that,” snapped pink-hair. The other two ignore him. 

Linebeck can’t fight. Doesn’t want to. Wouldn’t have a chance if he tried. But lie? That’s easier to him than breathing. “I told you, I never heard that name before. You’ve got a lot of nerve storming onto my ship.” 

Wolf-pelt looked around, and again, was like he was sniffing the air. “He’s here.”

“You sure, Pup?” asked one-eye.

Wolf-pelt nodded. “Its similar to us,” he replied. 

Pink-hair rolled his eyes. “Whatever that means,” he grumbled, and it's almost comforting to Linebeck that he was not the only one confused.

 _I need to get them off my ship_ , he thought. _Tell them Link's on a different ship? That I dropped him off on another island? I need to get them to leave before -_

“Linebeck?”

“No,” he whispered. All of them turned to look. In the cabin doorway is Link. His was in his stupid blue and orange pyjamas and his hair was messy from sleep, but the Phantom Sword was in his hand, ready to fight. 

“What’s going on?” Link asked, his eyes locked on the strangers. 

“Its nothing,” lied Linebeck, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice. “Just a little misunderstanding. Go back inside.”

 _Please,_ he thought, _go back inside. Run away._

Link doesn’t.

“What’s the misunderstanding?” the kid asks. 

“Nothing - “

“We’re looking for someone named Link,” said wolf-pelt. 

“That’s me.” 

“You killed Ganon?” Pink-hair scoffed. “You’re like, ten.”

“I was twelve when I defeat Ganon,” said Link with a shrug, like it was no big deal. Like Linebeck hadn’t heard him sobbing into Ciela’s wings at night. _I was so scared, Ciela. I was so scared - so scared - so scared -_ The kid hides all of that behind bright eyes and a brighter grin. “Now I’m almost fourteen.” Dawn was rising, getting morning light tangled in his blond hair. He looked like a child, barely a teenager, too small for the weapon in his hands.

The oldest one looked at Link, and for a brief moment his face is twisted in rage. A dark, deep-rooted anger burned in his one good eye. 

He looked ready to scream.

He looked ready to turn around and walk away. 

But he didn’t. The anger is quickly smothered, replaced by a friendly smile. “We need to talk to you.”

“Okay,” said the kid, and Linebeck feels his heart dragged down by fresh grief. _I tried_ , he argued with himself. _I tried to stop whatever’s about to happen._ The excuse doesn’t make him feel any better.

But whatever they have to say, it can’t be worse than a ghost ship and a life-eating monster, could it?

***

Linebeck was wrong. This was much worse. 

He didn’t understand half of it. Multiple Links? Worlds? Evil infected monsters twice as strong? It's another adventure, but one that sounds more dark and dangerous than anything the kid had faced before. 

But he was going. Of course he was going. Link, Linebeck knew, will never turn down someone asking for help. Even if he really should. 

“It will be dangerous,” cautioned one-eye. Time, that was his name. Time and Twilight and Legend, the dumbest names Linebeck had ever heard.

“I’m not scared of danger,” said Link, grinning. The kid couldn’t conceal anything. Every thought, every emotion was plastered across his face. Each expression shouted out his thoughts. Nervous, excited, fascinated. 

_One day,_ thought Linebeck, _he was going to come back from an adventure unable to smile anymore._

Link went to grab what he needed from the cabin, Legend and Time going with him. Twilight stayed outside on deck and Linebeck glared at him.

“You got cannons on your boat?” he asked.

Twilight shook his head. “Um, we don’t have a boat.”

“Planning on swimming across the whole Great Sea then?” What pathetic pirates had Link gotten himself stuck with? No eye-patch, no boat. No business coming out of nowhere and taking Link away. 

_Sparkles would have agreed with me_ , and that thought of Ciela just made everything worse. 

Twilight just smiled, exasperated and pitying. Linebeck hated it. “We’ll look after him,” he promised.

“You better,” spat Linebeck. 

The kid came back on deck, bags ready. “You’ll tell Tetra about this, right Linebeck?”

“Sure,” said Linebeck. He tried to keep all the worry and anger out of his voice. Tried to pretend like none of this affected him at all. “You better bring her back some decent treasure. You better bring me back treasure too.” He wasn’t brave enough to look the kid in the eyes as they said goodbye.

Link, always the bravest out of the two of them, hugged Linebeck hard. 

“The shift’s coming,” said Time. There’s a twist in the air, a strange magic that even Linebeck can sense. 

“Okay,” said Link, and he went to stand beside the others. He gave Linebeck one last wave. “Don’t worry, Linebeck. It’s not like I’m going to disappear forever!”

“Bad joke,” said Linebeck, but the kid and the three strangers are already gone.

**Author's Note:**

> I love the Linked Universe, and Wind is my fav. I love this sunshine, pirate kid.


End file.
